Jefferson Parish Finance Director Gwen Bolotte was "startled" in June of 2009 when her supervisor assured the Parish Council it could save about $20 million by closing the parish dump for 25 years and sending trash to the private River Birch landfill, according to a sworn deposition.

View full sizeDavid Grunfeld, The Times-PicayuneMany red flags were raised about the contract with the River Birch landfill, above, by mid-level parish administrators long before the deal came under federal investigation.

Bolotte said she raised her hand during the council meeting and said her department had nothing to do with the savings estimates former Parish President Aaron Broussard's top aide, Tim Whitmer, cited in persuading the council to unanimously approve River Birch's $160 million, 25-year garbage-disposal contract.

"I wanted it known that the Finance Director did not have anything to do with this," Bolotte said in a deposition connected to the parish's lawsuit to sever its contract with Waste Management to operate the parish dump.

Bolotte's comment was one of many red flags raised about the River Birch contract by mid-level parish administrators long before the deal came under federal investigation, according to depositions that were taken by Waste Management attorneys in the past two months and are part of the court record.

River Birch spokesman Glenn Smith noted that the depositions were shaped solely by questions from attorneys for Waste Management, which he said "has a direct financial interest in keeping the parish landfill open."

Bolotte, parish landfill engineer Rick Buller and Environmental Affairs director Marnie Winter said they were surprised when the landmark contract to dispose of all household garbage for a quarter-century mushroomed from a seemingly narrow request for proposals for handling woody waste, such as tree limbs.

The three said they were baffled by what they perceived as a sense of urgency among Broussard's top aides in seeking proposals and approving River Birch's bid, with Winter saying they acted "very hastily" in an "artificial rush to get it done."

The trio also said they were surprised by how little was done to assess the financial impact of a deal with such far-reaching consequences.

Buller said he made a projection that showed less than $1 million in savings in each of the first three years, but he was uncomfortable going beyond that and recommended hiring a consultant to make a 25-year projection. But he said Whitmer and Parish Attorney Tom Wilkinson, who negotiated the River Birch contract, apparently just multiplied his projected savings out over 25 years.

Shortly before the council approved the deal, Buller said he pulled Whitmer aside and told him it was "premature to proceed with this."

'They were moving way too fast'

"I told him they were moving way too fast and we didn't -- hadn't done enough of an evaluation," Buller said. "His response was something to the effect that, well, we'll see what happens."

What resulted can perhaps best be described as a colossal mess.

A federal grand jury subpoenaed documents concerning the deal about 13 months ago after the revelation that Whitmer's wife had a health insurance contract with River Birch.

Broussard, Whitmer and Wilkinson resigned last year amid a sprawling federal investigation of Broussard's administration and Whitmer's insurance brokerage, which did business with at least a half-dozen parish contractors. All three either declined to comment for this report or did not return calls.

The parish and River Birch commissioned studies that reached opposite conclusions about whether the landfill deal will save the parish any money. The Parish Council plans to hold a special meeting to try to reconcile the differences.

The parish continues to pursue a lawsuit filed by the Broussard administration to end Waste Management's contract early. Meanwhile, Parish President John Young has directed parish attorneys to explore options for rescinding the River Birch contract, a move that would likely trigger more litigation.

Times-Picayune archiveWhether the River Birch contract will save Jefferson Parish money is in dispute. Different studies came up with different figures.

The situation could become even murkier on Feb. 25, when the parish is due to receive proposals for a new contract to operate the parish dump in Waggaman beyond the projected September 2012 end of Waste Management's contract, which runs until all current cells are filled.

The proposals will provide real world numbers to compare with the cost estimates in the studies, possibly adding another layer of complexity.

'Going on a fishing expedition'

The saga started in 2008 when a parish recycling committee recommended finding a way to keep woody waste out of the parish's Waggaman dump to prolong its life. A request for proposals to dispose of woody waste was drawn up, but Whitmer directed that it be expanded to include proposals for all other kinds of waste, including household garbage.

Winter, whose department oversees the landfill, said she was "really surprised" by the change and questioned Whitmer and Broussard about it.

"I asked, 'Do you realize when you say any other solid or all other waste that you're opening this up to hazardous waste and, you know, anything?'" she said in her deposition. "And the response was, 'Well, you know, we're going on a fishing expedition. What does it hurt to open it up to see what we get back?'"

Winter said the decision to broaden the request for proposals appeared to be influenced by someone outside the Broussard administration.

"I thought that some, some extraneous entity was involved, had some input into those changes," Winter said in the deposition.

"Did you have any idea it was River Birch?" asked Waste Management attorney Patrick Talley.

"I thought that they may have been, but, you know, it could have been others, anybody in the waste field," she replied.

River Birch denies any improprieties

River Birch officials have repeatedly denied any suggestion that they colluded with parish officials to obtain the contract.

"River Birch had nothing to do with the pace or timing of the process, which parish employees were involved in the committees, or the extent of parish employees' involvement in the process," said Smith, the landfill spokesman.

Winter described the involvement of Whitmer and Wilkinson in amending the request for proposals as "unusual." She said the document was prepared "very hastily" in an "artificial rush to get it done," prompting her to repeatedly apologize to Whitmer for not moving fast enough.

Bolotte also said she was directed to expedite paperwork for the deal.

"I got a phone call from Mr. Whitmer to push it through," she said. "Which means hurry up my purchasing department to process it through."

A little over a month after River Birch submitted its proposal to dispose of all parish garbage, the Broussard administration obtained council approval to begin negotiating a contract. River Birch was selected over Concrete Busters of Louisiana, which had submitted a proposal for woody waste only.

Winter said she advised Whitmer and Wilkinson that "we should take our time evaluating this and looking at the whole financial picture." But she said that wasn't done because "they wanted to rush it through," according to her deposition.

'It was a complete overreach'

Buller said he was stunned by the proposal to close the parish landfill for 25 years.

"It was a complete overreach of what I expected," he said in his deposition.

Both Winter and Buller said the parish had no data to back the administration's claim that the River Birch contract would result in substantial savings.

Smith disputed this and noted that Buller had projected in April 2009 that the River Birch contract would save the parish about $3 million in the first three years. River Birch's own study pegged the savings at about $50 million over 25 years, while a parish-commissioned study released two weeks ago concluded the parish could save at least $9 million by continuing to use its own dump.

Winter was not included on a committee that reviewed the River Birch proposal, a violation of a parish ordinance that requires the head of the department involved to sit on the committee.

Parish attorneys have said the council effectively waived this requirement when they approved the committee's recommendation to accept River Birch's proposal.

Unanimous council approval

Smith emphasized that the council voted unanimously to approve the contract, which he said was the result of "months of study, public discussion and an open process."

In a counterclaim to the parish's lawsuit, Waste Management alleges Broussard had wanted to oust Waste Management in favor of River Birch as early as 2004. The firm's attorneys cited an April 2004 memo from James "Dutchie" Connick, a former Waste Management employee who now works for River Birch, that said Broussard was unhappy with the way Waste Management had treated Bobby Bourgeois. Bourgeois left Waste Management in the 1990s and served six years in the Broussard administration.

Councilman Byron Lee sponsored a resolution in late 2004 stating the council's intent to seek a new garbage-disposal contractor, but the resolution was not adopted. After Hurricane Katrina, the matter was largely put on the back burner until the woody waste issue cropped up in 2008.

After inking the River Birch contract in 2009, the Broussard administration sued to sever Waste Management's dump-management contract, alleging the firm had overbilled the parish by $3 million.

The suit also seeks to collect $80 million in fines from Waste Management for failing to pick up trash for six weeks during Katrina's aftermath in 2005. Waste Management had been the parish's trash hauler until its contract expired in 2008 and the company did not submit a bid for a new contract.

In the weeks after Katrina, the parish declared Waste Management in default of its contract as mounds of trash piled on Jefferson streets. But company officials presented a plan to resume curbside service, and the parish withdrew its default declaration.

In its response to the lawsuit, Waste Management said this agreement effectively waived all fines. The company accused the parish of reviving the fines to "improperly pressure" Waste Management to give up its contract.

Members of Broussard's administration had periodically raised the possibility of terminating Waste Management's deal by not appropriating money to pay the firm. Waste Management said this would be an abuse of a contract clause intended to be used only if the parish faces a financial emergency.

Waste Management also took a deposition from former Chief Administrative Assistant Deano Bonano, who was not involved in the River Birch deal and was mainly questioned about the post-Katrina trash-collection problems.

Despite the misgivings Bolotte, Buller and Winter voiced about the River Birch contract in their depositions, there is no indication they sought to share their concerns with anyone outside the administration, aside from Bolotte's muted protest about the $20 million savings estimate.

Bolotte said she didn't speak into the microphone when she distanced her office from the savings projections and isn't sure if anyone besides Whitmer heard what she said.

Citing the pending lawsuit, Parish Attorney Deborah Foshee said the deposed officials could not comment.

Bolotte acknowledged in her deposition that despite her sense that the River Birch deal was being rushed through, she didn't question why.

"Couldn't figure that out. Didn't want to figure it out," said Bolotte, who serves at the pleasure of the parish president. "You know what I'm saying?"